Family: Chicago shooting victim knew killer

A Chicago man who was shot to death outside his Humboldt Park home over the weekend tried to tell loved ones who shot him right before he died.Gregory Jones, 32, had just returned home from an all-night card game when the shooting happened on Central Park avenue early Saturday morning.

Some members of the man's family now fears the killer will never be brought to justice.

They gathered Sunday, along with friends, just a few feet away from where Jones died. Relatives say the Humboldt Park man was gunned down, apparently, by someone he knew.

"He said, 'Sis, I know. I know who shot me. And I said, 'Just stay awake until the ambulance gets here. Talk to me. Talk to me,'" said the victim's sister, Ernestine Harris.

Harris said her brother lost consciousness and later died at an area hospital before he could tell her the name of his killer.

The attack happened around 5:30 a.m. Saturday as Jones returned home. It appears that as the 32-year-old returned to his car for something he had forgotten, a green van pulled up near him.

Neighborhood residents say they saw Jones talking with people inside the vehicle and shaking the hand of a person sitting in the front passenger seat. That's when, witnesses say, the van's side door slid open, and shots rang out. Jones was hit several times in the stomach.

"I just feel for his kids and his wife. I was with him a lot. I don't really that many words to say. I just know I love him to death," friend Verdell Poe said.

Police detectives are still working on a motive for the crime, but friends say the shooting may have something to do with the card game Jones attended shortly before the attack.

"They must have been very angry with him. I really don't have any excuses for what happened and what took place," said Tresha McKenzie, another friend of the victim.

Residents in the Humboldt Park neighborhood remained in mourning Sunday over the loss of Jones, who also leaves behind three young children.

Police had not said Sunday evening whether or not they recovered a weapon, and there had been no arrests or suspects identified.